


the end of history as we know

by soulgraves



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, television show AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 01:17:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2172471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulgraves/pseuds/soulgraves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam Evans is the newest cast member of hit teen show <i>New Directions</i>.</p><p>(For Blam Week 2014, Day 3: famous fic.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the end of history as we know

**Author's Note:**

> Also known in my head as: "Max Daniels and Brendan Carmichael are not in love but they probably should be."
> 
> This isn't the fic I meant to write. I had a canon future fic all planned out, and somehow this happened instead. Please take it all with a grain of salt because everything I know about any and all subject matters comes from other TV shows. Um.

When Sam’s agent tells him he’s got the job, he lets himself freak out for a good half hour before calling his folks and letting them know he’ll be sticking around in L.A. longer than expected.

The character sheet’s still pretty thin - _Max Daniels; nineteen; attractive, Southern Playboy; romantically tied to Lucy and Meg_ \- but it could be one line an episode and it’d still be the best job he’s booked since packing up his bags and crossing his fingers. 

“Your sister’s freaking out,” his mom says, and Sam can just make out his dad clattering about with pots and pans in the background. “I don’t know which of her friends is allowed to watch it yet, but apparently it’s ‘ _like, the coolest thing ever, Mom, oh my god_.’ I think she’ll try playing the Sammy card once your episodes start airing, and I’ll have to remind her _again_ that she can watch whatever she wants once she’s fifteen and having a car means I can no longer control what she does with her time.”

Sam grins, clearly picturing his sister’s putout expression and irritated tween sigh. “Tell her I’ll fill her in on a couple of non-essential spoilers so she can impress her friends without even watching.”

“See, I always knew you’d end up being the easiest of my kids to deal with.”

“What you don’t know won’t hurt you,” Sam says, and holds the phone away from his ear when his mom starts laughing.

“You know we’re proud of you, right?” she says, later, right before hanging up, and Sam feels nothing but happy even in missing her.

“I know,” he says, and hopes that, whatever happens, that’ll never change.

 

\+ 

 

 _New Directions_ is still one of the CW’s top-rated shows three seasons in, never budging from the prominent Thursday night spot, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be slowing down anytime soon. 

For a glossy, college based teen drama, it manages to deal with some pretty tough issues between all the love triangles and partying, and Sam will happily admit to joining pretty much the whole fifteen to thirty year old demographic across the country as a fan. There’s barely a gossip rag out there that doesn’t feature at least one member of the cast an issue - whether it’s Jesse St. James quitting the show after a (rumored) break-up with leading lady Rachel Berry, or speculation as to Kurt Hummel’s sexuality - so Sam’s not walking into this completely blind.

Or, he hopes he’s not.

His first week on set is _weird_ ; he’s so used to seeing these people through a filter that it takes him a while to get comfortable sharing space with them. His early scenes are mostly with Rachel and Quinn Fabray - Max putting the moves on both of them at the same beach party and the fall out later when they find out - and they’re friendly and professional which makes his life a lot easier. There’s some kind of tension there that he doesn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, though, so he focuses on acting his socks off and trying to do as much with the character as he can, ignoring the not-so-subtle glares they shoot each other between takes.

“Yeah, best to stay well clear,” Puck - (“Just Puck, dude, seriously.”) - says when he mentions it, grabbing lunch as the cameras are switched for the next take. “Sometimes they’re friends, sometimes they’re not. Chicks, man.” He shakes his head, and Sam doesn’t ask about the fond look on his face or the tattoo on his wrist that seems to have been changed at least three times.

 

****

+

 

“We’re thinking of pushing the frat boy thing,” Will Schuester - head writer - says, about a month into Sam’s contract. “We’ve touched on the Greek system before when Rachel rushed a sorority in season one, but we’d like to show it in a positive light. It’ll make Max more three dimensional if we show him interacting with people he considers brothers.”

“Awesome,” Sam says, because it is. It means the show wants to do something more with his character than use him as a plot device, and he doesn’t want to count his chickens before they hatch or whatever, but this could make his spot on _New Directions_ a little more permanent.

“You’re fitting in really well, Sam,” Will says, offering him an encouraging smile.

Sam doesn’t cheer but it’s a close call.

 

****

+

 

The show hires two new guys, Jake Puckerman - absolutely a relation (“Damn right that’s my baby bro!”) - and Ryder Lynn to play Max’s frat brothers, filling out the rest with a bunch of extras. Sam gets along with them both immediately, and it feels pretty great to have people on set that he gets to interact with on a regular basis, makes their scenes gel and their chemistry more natural.

He also gets a new “love interest” after Tina’s Jem is dumped by the token bad boy of the week and Max finds her drinking away her sorrows in the student bar. Tina’s been a cast member since season one, and even though Jem gets mixed reviews as a character, having a romance plot with one of the originals only helps Sam feel a little safer. 

Of course, it helps that Tina’s awesome.

“Did you know there’s an entire fraction of the internet devoted to photoshopping pictures of your head onto naked men?” she asks one day between takes, staring down at her phone. “Damn, maybe you need to take your clothes off on camera more. Clearly the occasional topless beach scenes are not doing it for these folks. You’ve got to give the people what they want, Sam.”

Sam blinks. “I really hope my family doesn’t have me on Google alerts,” he says, and Tina cracks up, laughing so hard the make-up department start scolding them for ruining her mascara.

“Sorry, sorry,” she says, pulling a face at Sam who grins right up until the director starts the scene.

He knew he’d love this job.

 

****

+

 

“Oh my god,” Tina says, grabbing his arm and dragging him into wardrobe. “Did you hear? Blaine’s coming back!”

Sam frowns. “Wait, Blaine Anderson? Brendan?””

Tina waves a distracted hand. “I forget you’ve only been here a little while. _Yes_ , Blaine Anderson. God, this is going to be great.”

Brendan Carmichael had been a recurring character last season. Sam had liked him; he’d started out as a temporary love interest of Rachel’s Lucy to add some much needed angst to her long-term relationship with Jesse’s Theo but had ended with quite a lot of screen time wracked up come the finale. Honestly, Sam had expected him to be a regular this season, but people come and go on shows all the time so he hadn’t really thought much about it when Blaine wasn’t a cast member he was introduced to at his first read-through.

“Cool?” he says, not understanding why Tina looks so giddy.

“It _is_ cool, Sam,” she says, and he’s reminded that underneath it all she has a wicked streak a mile wide. “It means _drama_. Which, I obviously wouldn’t be so thrilled by if it was going to affect _my_ work, but we’ve got our own little corner of the show carved out over here so we should be okay.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sam says, and Tina rolls her eyes.

“I’m talking about Blaine and Kurt,” she whispers, eyes wide, and that’s how Sam finds out that the gossip rags are absolutely right about Kurt Hummel’s sexuality but they somehow _completely missed_ a story that would put a _New Directions_ plot to shame.

And, yeah. Tina’s right.

_Drama._

 

****

+

 

According to the all-knowing Tina Cohen-Chang, the basic facts seem to be that Kurt and Blaine a) met _before_ Blaine joined the show, b) dated almost right up until Blaine _left_ the show, and c) broke up in a horrific manner in front of everyone on set when Kurt accused Blaine of cheating on him with Sebastian Smythe, lead of _Dalton Academy_ , the supernatural high school drama Blaine was on before _New Directions_.

Apparently there was also a lot of shouting about not going public, an ex-intern named Chandler, and how Blaine had only joined the show because of Kurt in the first place.

All in all, Sam’s not surprised that Blaine didn’t stick around.

He _is_ surprised that Blaine’s coming _back_.

 

****

+

 

The first time they actually meet, Sam’s loitering in the parking lot by the trailers, texting his dad and enjoying the sunshine before he’s shut away shooting for the rest of the day.

Sam recognizes him immediately, obviously, but Blaine’s not looking at him, is staring at the ground like it holds all the world’s secrets, and Sam wonders if he’s, like, _deep in thought_ and doesn’t want disturbed or something, but he’s also wearing the same look Stevie gets after he’s been shouted at by his Little League coach so Sam can’t let it go.

“You okay, dude?” he calls, and Blaine’s head shoots up in shock, eyes wide. 

“Oh,” he says, “sorry, I didn’t expect-- Hi. Yes, I’m fine,” he says, and Sam laughs.

“Sure,” he says, putting his phone away and wandering over, “that sold me.”

Blaine shoots Sam a self-deprecating smile and runs a hand through his hair. “Just nervous, I guess,” he says, and Sam gets it, but Blaine’s _famous_ , has blogs dedicated to his clothes and that duet he did at the Emmy’s with Katy Perry has millions of hits of YouTube and there are teenagers the world over with pictures of him on their bedroom walls. So, he gets it, but he also-- doesn’t.

“You’re going to be great,” he says, honestly, because he’s watched the last three shows Blaine’s been on, and _seriously_ , the boy can act circles around most of Young Hollywood, no question.

Blaine looks surprised, like he doesn’t know how to reply, and Sam realizes that he hasn’t even introduced himself, _shit_.

“Sorry,” he says, “I’m Sam. Sam Evans. Hi.”

“No, it’s--” Blaine says, shaking his head. “Hi Sam, I’m Blaine. It’s nice to meet you. You’ve been doing great on the show; Max is a fascinating character.”

“Thanks, dude,” Sam says, grinning at the praise. “I’m super glad you’re back, Brendan was totally my favorite of the guys last season. Just don’t tell Puck that, he’ll fill my trailer with bees or something.”

Blaine laughs, bright and loud, and Sam can practically see his confidence start slipping into place. It’s definitely a better look for him than tense and awkward.

“I guess I should go,” Blaine says after a moment, and his smile’s gone but he doesn’t look quite so sad either. “Face the music, and all that.”

“Good luck,” Sam says. “It was nice meeting you.”

And when Blaine says, “It was nice to meet you, too,” Sam thinks he really means it.

 

****

+

 

“Kurt’s _ignoring him_ ,” Tina sighs, settling into the chair next to him and passing over a bottle of water. “So petty.”

“By which you mean ‘so boring’,” Sam says, and Tina laughs.

“Okay, _yeah_ , I’ll admit I was hoping for another showdown. My life is seriously lacking in entertainment right now, I need to live vicariously through other people.”

“You’re starting to sound like Santana,” Sam says, and ducks out the way before she can hit him. “Seriously though, everyone else is okay, right? No one’s being a dick to him?”

Tina bites her lip, momentarily serious. “I don’t know,” she says, eventually. “The other guys seem to be fine, though Finn still seems unsure as to whether it’s okay if he even _talks_ to Blaine off-camera or if that’s breaking some step-brotherly bond. The girls are all pretty close to Kurt though--”

“Yeah,” Sam says, sighing. Everyone’s been professional, but Sam’s used to them all wearing their emotions on their sleeves by now, so this weirdly normal work environment makes everyone a little out of sorts. 

“I heard Will and Emma both asked him to come back,” Tina says after a while. “Apparently Kurt went to _Sue_ about it, but she told him he shouldn’t have brought his personal life to work if he wasn’t going to act like a grown-up when it all came to a head or something.” She looks at Sam carefully and then rolls her eyes. “We’ll invite him bowling tonight, okay? Just you, me, Jake, and Ryder. Puck if he wants in. Maybe Artie.”

“Awesome,” Sam says, and pulls her into a hug, ignoring her protests that he’ll ruin her hair. They’re totally filming a make out scene next, so it’s not like it matters. Of course, when he says that aloud, she just hits him _hard_.

“It’s tough being your best friend,” he pouts.

Tina hits him again.

 

****

+

 

The thing that Sam really hasn’t counted on, is that besides being super talented, smart, and downright charming, Blaine? Is _awesome._

Of all the people Sam’s met since moving to L.A., Blaine is easily the one he has the most in common with, a fact Tina’s put out by for a whole two days before she invades one of their movie marathons and insists they pay attention to her.

After a month there are pictures all over the internet of them hanging out, sometimes with Tina or Puck, sometimes alone, but always smiling and doing something stupid, or _about_ to do something stupid, and Sam can’t help but laugh every time one of them appears on his twitter feed. 

“They’re calling us Blam,” he tells Blaine, shoving his phone under the other guy’s nose and ignoring Blaine’s squeak of protest. “We’ve only known each other a month and we already have a smush name.”

Blaine rolls his eyes, but he’s blushing which is _hilarious_.

“So,” Tina says, pushing between them with a grin, “how do you think the show’s going to bank on this one?”

Sam looks at Blaine who shrugs, and, _yeah_ , there’s a thought.

 

****

+

 

They’re called into the writers’ room three days later, Will and Emma joined by the whole team and all of them exchanging conspiratorial glances.

“So,” Will says, “we’re going to start having you guys interact more onscreen, maybe have Brendan and Jem become close friends through a mutual class and go from there. We want you to have less to do with Lucy’s circle for a bit, Blaine.”

Blaine nods, and Sam knows him well enough now to know when he’s battling with himself. “Of course,” he says quickly. “It’s just-- Did I do anything wrong? Or--”

“No!” Emma says, earnestly. “No, Blaine, of course not. This doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of the cast; this is genuinely just a place we’d like to take your stories.”

Blaine relaxes, and Sam knocks their shoulders together gently.

“So, Max and Brendan are going to become friends, huh?” he says, not bothering to fight his grin.

Will blinks. “Oh no,” he says, with a smirk Sam hadn’t known he was capable of. “No, they’re going to _hate_ each other.”

 

****

+

 

It’s unusual for Sam to have any scenes with Kurt, their characters barely acquainted, but almost the whole cast is on set for a giant carnival they’re filming out on location, and Max runs into Lucy and Kurt’s Hal by the tilt-a-whirl, so they’re standing around while Rachel finishes up in hair and makeup.

“You and Blaine are close,” Kurt says, and okay, Sam had been talking about the Teen Choice Awards, so he figures he’s allowed to be confused by this one.

“Uh,” he says, “yeah?”

“He likes you,” Kurt continues, rolling his eyes, and Sam shrugs.

“Well, _yeah_ ,” Sam says, because _duh_. They’re basically inseparable; he’d be pretty upset if Blaine _didn’t_ like him.

Kurt stares at him intently for a moment, arms crossed over his chest, and Sam wonders how badly the breakup affected him, if any of the accusations were true on either side or if it all boiled down to something way more complicated. 

“You shouldn’t lead him on,” Kurt says, and Sam suddenly realizes that Kurt probably doesn’t even _like_ him and all that comes down to something he doesn’t really understand too.

“What?” Sam says when Kurt’s words finally register, but then Rachel’s there and the director’s calling them to their places.

Sam runs the scene on autopilot, his mind chasing too many thoughts.

 _Oh_ , he thinks when they all stop at once.

 _Oh_.

 _Shit_.

 

****

+

 

Having Max and Brendan be at each other’s throats is a lot of fun, at least for them. There’s a couple of times they break character, both of them laughing too hard to say their next line, and the director looks at them sternly until they get it together, but Sam figures it’ll at least make for a good blooper reel. 

Kurt shoots him a look sometimes, when Sam’s heading back to his trailer, still smiling, and he wants to say _you’re wrong, you know_ but he doesn’t think Kurt would get it.

It’s not that he opened Sam’s eyes to _Blaine’s_ feelings - Sam _knows_ Blaine, knows everything important there _is_ to know about him, and Kurt’s wrong if he thinks Sam hasn’t been able to see Blaine’s crush from the beginning - it’s that he opened Sam up to his _own_. 

And that’s no one’s business but Sam and Blaine’s.

 

****

+

 

There are uneasy whispers going on, and Sam ignores them right up until a red carpet interviewer asks him, “Any truth to the rumors that the execs are in talks about the future of _New Directions?_ ” 

All he can say is that he hasn’t heard anything, doesn’t know where all this started, and smile at the camera as he moves on. He honestly _doesn’t_ know where it all started, and he knows that shows don’t last forever, jobs don’t last forever, but he’d really like to have one for more than one season.

Blaine meets him by the doors, straightening his bowtie as he charms Giuliana Rancic, reaching out his hand to drag Sam into frame as she says how much she’s looking forward to seeing the episodes with them interacting, and Sam laughs, slinging an arm around Blaine’s shoulders.

“It might not be what you expect,” he says, winking as she repeats his words to the camera, and Sam takes the chance to steal Blaine away.

“Do you think we have to worry?” Blaine whispers, when they’re inside and amongst a different sort of crowd.

“Nah,” Sam says, and wishes he meant it more. “We’ll be fine.”

He really hopes he’s right.

 

****

+

 

Will calls Sam, Blaine, and Tina into his private office together, and Sam tries not to react when he sees Sue perched on the corner of the desk looking serious. If Sue’s here then whatever it is is _big_ , big enough that she and Will are voluntarily sharing the same air.

Once they’re seated, Tina grabs his hand under the table, and Sam squeezes back, reaching out to hold Blaine’s too. It feels like they’re in the Principle’s office, like Sam’s back in Kentucky promising to keep his grades up so he can keep playing football, and it’s not a feeling he enjoyed then, let alone now with his whole career riding on it.

“I know you’ve heard the rumors that the execs are thinking about where to take the show--” Will starts, looking them all in the eye by turn, and Sue scoffs.

“Don’t keep them hanging, William, it’s cruel and pointless and no one wants to hear you speak for any longer than necessary,” she says. “Look kids, it’s true. The show _is_ going in a new direction, pardon the god-awful pun. But-- Oh, stop looking like someone’s killed your puppy, the lot of you. It’s not _bad news_.”

“Sue,” Will says sharply, eyes softening as he smiles. “The show’s decided that, whilst our viewing figures are at an all-time high and our demographic seems to be ever-expanding, that now’s the time to go ahead with the spin-off we’ve had on the table for a while.”

“A spin-off?” Tina says, sitting up straight.

“ _McKinley_ ,” Sue says, nodding. “We were hoping to get it off the ground at the end of the last season, but then Blaine left, and no offense to anyone else this studio employs, but you were the only one we were truly looking at to take it on, doe-eyes.”

Blaine makes a tiny noise, and Sam can feel him practically shaking. “What?”

“Oh, don’t act to so surprised,” Sue says with a scoff. “You’re American TV’s tiny, sexually ambiguous sweetheart. Not that lady lips over here isn’t a close second.”

“Wait,” Sam says, joining the club of the dumbfounded. “ _What?_ ”

Will takes pity on them. “We want you three to head up our cast for the new show, though we’re going to ask Jake and Ryder to come onboard too. We’re hoping to take it to a grittier place - still about college life, just fewer love triangles and more of the serious issues that young adults face every day. Money, sexuality, drugs, dealing with the future, those sorts of things.”

“Will people watch that?” Tina asks, sounding curious, and Sue hums.

“With the chemistry you three have onscreen, absolutely,” she says, so seriously that Sam can’t help but believe her. “We’ll still throw in the romance and the topless boys playing volleyball or what have you, we’ll just get to delve deeper than _New Directions_ can in its time slot.”

“So, what do you say?” Will asks, as the room falls silent.

Sam still has Blaine and Tina’s hands beneath his, feels them both hold on tight, and knows he speaks for all of them when he says, “We’re in.”

 

****

+

 

The rest of the _New Directions_ cast are split somewhere between happy and disbelieving when the studio finally makes the announcement, and Sam accepts their hugs and ignores the rest because this is _his_ , his and Blaine’s and Tina’s, and nothing can take that away from him right now.

His mom screams down the phone when he tells her, puts his dad on speakerphone and sends Stacey stomping off to her room when she says she _definitely_ isn’t watching this one until she’s older, and Sam’s man enough to admit that he maybe cries a bit.

Jake and Ryder are giddy with it all too, clinging to Blaine and Sam and talking about who their dream cast would be for the rest of the characters that Emma’s started throwing out there whenever they ask. They get even worse once sweet, singer-songwriter turned actress Marley Rose comes onboard as a member of McKinley’s Panhellenic Council.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Blaine says, shaking his head as they wrap for the day, and Sam laughs.

“Dude, it’s all because of you,” he says, and Blaine stops, tugging on Sam’s arm until he turns to face him.

“ _Sam_ ,” he says, and it’s like the air in the room gets suddenly thinner. “It’s not. It’s not because of me. _All_ of this is because of _you_. You really don’t get that, do you?”

Sam’s skin feels too tight, and he rubs his hand across the back of his neck as he say, “No, come on, Sue even _said_ \--”

“She said they’d been considering me _last season_. Before-- Before everything with Kurt went down. Honestly, I’m lucky _New Directions_ even took me _back_ after that, it was all so unprofessional and Kurt’s an original, he was never going to suffer for it. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have even made me a regular if it wasn’t for you.”

“Okay,” Sam says, shaking him off, “no. You’re the best actor on this show by a mile. The only one who even comes close is Rachel. All I did was, I don’t know, be your friend.”

“ _Exactly_ ,” Blaine says, and there’s so much in that one word that Sam doesn’t know how to respond, stares at Blaine until Tina rushes in, looks between them, and awkwardly dances back out, effectively cutting the tension. 

“You can come back,” Blaine calls, rolling his eyes as she sticks her head around the corner, looking apologetic.

“Sorry for interrupting your _moment_ ,” she says, and Sam starts laughing until it hurts to breathe.

 _I’m so screwed_ , he thinks, and he honestly couldn’t be happier about it.

 

****

+

 

The media go wild and the internet goes twice that, and Sam’s going to have to seriously consider stopping his nightly tumblr checks if he keeps accidentally stumbling across pictures of Max and Brendan in compromising positions (and, okay, there’s that one painting of them making out on the couch in Max’s frat house that Sam _maybe_ printed out - in color - and keeps folded up in his wallet because the artist has Brendan wearing a _bowtie_ even though he never does on the show, but no one needs to know about that). 

He’s already struggling to think about much _besides_ kissing Blaine, he doesn’t need the visual help to get there.

 

****

+

 

“I’m thinking of coming out to the public,” Blaine says out of nowhere, making Sam choke on his sandwich, “before the new show starts.”

He looks nervous, and honestly it takes Sam a moment to remember that, _right_ , Blaine’s private life has mostly managed to stay _private_ up until now. As far as Sam knows, Blaine hasn’t been in any kind of closet since he was fourteen and figuring out his sexuality in the first place, but there’s a difference between the people in your life knowing and the general population knowing, and Sam gets it.

“Why now?” he asks, honestly curious, and Blaine shrugs.

“Who I’m dating’s never been an issue before,” he says, looking down at his hands. “Not really.”

There are so many things Sam wants to ask to that, but he keeps quiet because he doesn’t need to know, not really.

“But it matters now?” he asks, then when the words sink in: “Wait, are you dating someone?”

“Not yet,” Blaine says, looking at him seriously, and _oh_.

Okay.

 _Awesome_.

 

****

+

 

Blaine goes on Ellen and gives the world a part of him, and Sam thinks _I love you_ and _I’m so glad you came back,_ and wonders how he can make Blaine understand that he’s in this too.

It turns out to be easy, in the end.

“So,” Jason Kennedy asks, “I can honestly say that I can’t _wait_ for next fall and _McKinley_ ’s premiere. We’ve been hearing a lot about possible plotlines for the _show_ , but are there any stories amongst the cast? Any secrets you can divulge?”

He holds the microphone out with a smile, and Sam could say something playful, could stand there in his expensive suit and repeat a meaningless anecdote about his friends, but instead he leans forward and say, “Well, I mean, it’s not really a _secret_ , but I guess I can tell you that I’m sort of stupidly in love with my co-star.”

“Tina?” Jason asks, eyes glinting.

“No,” Sam says, with a smile, and that’s that.

 

****

+

 

“I can’t believe you did that,” Blaine says when Sam opens the door. “I _really_ can’t believe you did that.”

Sam shrugs. “You’re not in this alone, dude,” he says, then: “Hang on, all this was about _us_ , right? Oh shit, I didn’t even _ask_.”

Blaine shuts him up with his mouth.

Sam’s pretty sure he should use that tactic _all the time_.

 

****

+

 

 _McKinley_ is a hit before it even airs, and Sam’s so grateful he could cry. He goes with Blaine and Tina to the launch party, insists on standing in the middle so everyone knows they’re both _his_ dates, then holds Blaine’s hand through every one of the pre-party interviews.

They skip the airing of the pilot to make out in the first empty room they find, and only break it up when Tina comes to tell them that everyone’s going to want to talk to them in, like, five minutes and there’s no cold showers around, so.

Puck throws them an after party on the roof of his apartment building that mostly consists of cheap Vodka and extreme Frisbee, and then leaves them curled up on a garden chair when they accidentally fall asleep, waking up the next morning freezing cold and aching. They get their own back by having particularly loud sex in Puck’s shower just to see his face when they surface, and it’s almost worth the cold’s they’re both left with.

 

****

+

 

On the first day of filming for the actual (full series run!) show, Tina finds them in wardrobe, dragging Jake and Ryder behind her and presenting them with a bottle of champagne and no glasses, because, “we are classy, classy people, Sam Evans, and don’t you forget it.”

“To _McKinley_ ,” she says, even though they’ve been toasted too many times to count by now, “but more importantly, to _us_. Here’s to being friends no matter what, to kicking ass in the ratings, and to making that other show we used to be on look like child’s play. And, yes, I only mostly mean that last part.”

Sam laughs, takes a swig from the bottle before passing it on, and is so grateful for the last year of his life that he couldn’t find the words if he tried.

“To us,” Blaine says, and if he catches Sam’s eye and flushes as he says it, then only, like, _three_ of the people in the room call him out on it. 

Sam just kisses him instead.

 

****

+

 

(Max and Brendan do eventually become friends - _best friends_ , as it happens - which makes the fans happy.

Honestly? Sam kind of misses the shoving. But, hey, he gets to push Blaine up against the nearest wall in his spare time anyway, and the results are always _far_ better.

And what Max and Brendan get up to in all that fanfiction he absolutely does not read is up to them.)


End file.
